Firearms Training

Front Sight’s Monday Blog: Don’t Do This, But Learn From It…

February 14th, 2011

Please do not ever agree to conduct a post-shooting interview with the news media like the one you are going to see in this week’s blog.

I am sharing these two, post-shooting news interview videos with you–one from the gun owner who defended himself and one from the District Attorney– so you gain a better understanding of the dynamics of a home invasion that ended in a lethal encounter.

Although the homeowner did quite a good job in the interview, and the law is on his side, it is still not a good idea to agree to a post shooting interview with the news media.

Note that the news reporter states that the homeowner could not believe three men would invade his home. Home invasions happen every day and the home invaders range from common street punks high on drugs, to extremely dedicated professionals. Believing it can happen to you is the first step to handling a home invasion. Being armed and trained is the next step to immediately stopping a home invasion.

I am not a fan of the “Judge” revolver because a .410 shot shell, even with buckshot, is not as good a fight stopper a .45 slug or other major caliber handgun rounds. If you are going to carry a handgun that will hold a shot shell or slug, choose the slug.

Notice, that even with the .410 buck shot shell, the homeowner missed his first shot at very close range. This proves once again that you must use the sights to guarantee a hit, even with buckshot out of a short barrel.

I thought it was interesting that the homeowner was questioned as to why he did not fire a warning shot? He answered correctly. There is not time for any warning shots in a lethal encounter, BUT he did miss with his first shot! Wasn’t that warning enough?

Seriously, the homeowner was in a tactically advantageous position to fire the first shot and end the conflict. If you do not use your sights and miss with the first shot, you have lost all tactical advantage, the playing field is now level, and the bad guy gets his turn. The home owner is lucky he did not pay for his missed, first shot with his life.

The Denver District Attorney does an excellent job of explaining the case and the law.

More importantly, the Denver District Attorney gives you some insight into the emotional impact the shooting had on the homeowner on the night of the shooting, when the homeowner was interviewed at the police station.

From the standpoint of defending a potential civil claim following a shooting, what emotional state and mental demeanor would play best for the homeowner? Described by law enforcement as “emotional” following the shooting or what you witnessed in the news interview?

Thus, you see why you do not want to agree to an interview with the news media to discuss a shooting, no matter how justified the shooting may be.

Dr. Ignatius Piazza has personally written all of these Gun Training Reports that will give you little known and rarely talked about secrets of the firearms training industry plus a wealth of tactical information about self defense, firearms training, gun training mindset, mental awareness, and more!